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Science Friday: When fish grow and die in California

In Science Friday by steelheaders

Soquel Creek is a small stream flowing into Monterey Bay about 70 miles south of San Francisco and is home to a population of winter steelhead. A group of scientists published a paper in 2009 that looked into seasonal patterns of growth, survival and movement of age-0 and age-1+ juvenile steelhead within this small California watershed.   Age-0 fish are …

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Stock Recruit Curves And Wild Steelhead, A Good Match?

In Science Friday by Nick Chambers

In several recent posts we have discussed the concept of density dependence and how it is used in fisheries management. Today we dive in deeper and talk about the stock-recruitment relationship, density dependence, and how the results of such models are applied to managing steelhead.   First, let’s define some terms. Stock refers to, in this context, a population of …

Science Friday: Juvenile Density, Distribution and Habitat Capacity

In Science Friday by Nick Chambers

By John McMillan New Year, new Science Friday! Last week we looked at the concept of carrying capacity, how it is estimated, and the most important habitat factors used to come up with those estimations. This week we shift gears a bit and review studies that illuminate how patterns in fish distribution can affect assumptions about carrying capacity.   Recall …